In the poultry production business, it is frequently necessary to move poultry from one location to another. For instance, it may be necessary to move chickens from one house to another when young chickens are sold by one grower for raising by another grower. In such an instance, it may be necessary to transfer chickens from one chicken house to a truck, and then from the truck to a second chicken house. Also, production efficiencies are sometimes achieved by separating various chickens on a farm and transferring live chickens from a present location to a new location.
Known hanger devices are ill-suited to the handling of live poultry as they may injure the legs of the birds. Currently, such transfer operations are accomplished by a labor intensive manual transfer process wherein workmen grasp poultry by the legs with their hands and move the fowl between suitable containers. Quite often, a live poultry transfer may involve tens of thousands of birds, if not hundreds of thousands of birds, thus there is a requirement for a large crew of workmen to accomplish the transfer in a short period of time.
When poultry are ready for slaughter and processing, they are typically hung by one or both legs from a hanger device that is propelled through a series of processing steps by means of a conveyer chain or the like. Known devices used in poultry and other animal processing operations use hooks, shackles, and the like for holding animals in a suitable position. While many such devices will securely hold an animal, it is often difficult to remove the animal from such devices Often, manual manipulation of the hanger device is required to insert, to remove, or to replace an animal or object in the hanger.
Various U.S. patents disclose hangers or shackles for use in processing operations:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,779 issued July 29, 1919, to Shank, discloses an adjustable hanger having two adjustable bars, with means for holding the bars in different relative adjusted positions. The extensible ends of the bars have a concave portion through which is passed a rope having an end loop portion adapted to engage an object, e.g., legs, against the concave portion. then the hanger is suspended, the end loop of the rope tightens against the secured object, which in turn is held against the solid concave portion of the hanger. While an object can be reliably held by such hanger, it is difficult to insert and to remove objects from such a device. Such insertion and removal requirements also demand extra time of personnel during processing operations, thus adversely affecting labor productivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,442 issued Mar. 8, 1938, to Kendal, discloses a frame for picking poultry in a poultry processing plant. In that device, the legs of the poultry are secured between spaced parallel co-extensive oblong strips which have inwardly projecting teeth on their inner faces This device also requires time consuming manipulation for object removal, and it is not suitable for use with live poultry.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,608 issued Mar. 30, 1948, to Johnson, discloses a shackle for use on a conveyer in a poultry preparation operation wherein spring-loaded generally "J"-shaped clamps can be pushed inwardly against a concave surface to secure legs of a chicken. The release of the clamp is by manual reset button which disengages a flat spring from a ratcheting mechanism. Both the insertion and the release operations require "two-hand" operation in this device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,941 issued Dec. 12, 1950, to Johnson, discloses an inverted "T" shaped poultry shackle having notches on the upper portion of both sides of the "T" shaped member. A jaw is hingedly mounted on the "T" and can be moved toward the intersection of the "T" to secure poultry legs between the "T" and the jaw. The jaw is released by a manually operable spring biased bolt latch.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,707 issued Jan. 20, 1953, to Liittjohann, discloses a gambrel for holding poultry in a processing plant The holder is comprised of a pair of spring-loaded jaw assemblies which are pivotedly mounted at opposite sides of a fixed plate. The jaw assemblies pivot from an open position to a closed position when an object such as a poultry leg is inserted into the open area of the plate. When the jaw assembly reaches the closed position, it is locked by a spring-loaded device to secure the poultry leg. Use of this device requires manipulation of the release mechanism while simultaneously supporting the object being secured. Thus, two hands are normally required for operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,347 issued Mar. 27, 1956, to Sharp et al., discloses a poultry shackle for holding fowl during a food processing operation. The shackle comprises a pair of jaw members pivotedly mounted with respect to a pair of spaced arms. The arms are adapted to bias toward an open position where the poultry holding jaw members are in an open position. The arms are secured in a closed position by a spaced follower member which is operated through a cam and spring mechanism
U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,194 issued Nov. 21, 1961, to Roth, shows a poultry hanger device useful to facilitate cutting poultry into pieces. The device is merely a hanger device having an upwardly and laterally extending pair of prongs which forms a slot with an open end for holding poultry. It does not provide any securing or gripping action for the object being transported.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,785 issued Jan. 26, 1965, to Lemmond, discloses a hinged two-piece generally "W"-shaped poultry shackle for use in a poultry processing plant. The shackle is adapted so that as it is pulled across a disengaging means, the shackle orientation is reversed and the legs of poultry are released from the shackle Lack of a securing means in this device prevents its use for transporting live poultry.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,841 issued Apr. 5, 1966, to Altenpohl, discloses a poultry shackle for use on an overhead conveyer. The shackle uses a pair of frames slideably connected together, wherein one frame attaches to the conveyer and the other frame combines with the first frame to form divergent pockets for wedgingly retaining the extremities, i.e. legs, of a fowl disposed therein, by force of gravity acting on the fowl. The shackle is not suitable for transportation of live fowl, however, as the shackle's wedging mechanism may damage their legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,416 issued Sept. 27, 1977, to duChaffaut et al., discloses a sling device for suspending an object such as an animal or other article. The device has a single cord-like flexible member, wherein the cord-like member is attached at one end to a biased moveable arm, and at the other end to a fixed bracket. then a force is exerted on the single cord-like flexible member, the moveable arm is positioned so as to form a loop in the cord-like member to hold the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,009 issued Feb. 8, 1983, to Linville, discloses a rigid support shackle and a pneumatically operated piston cylinder object removal mechanism therein a cylindrical piston striker mechanism acts upon the support shackle device, causing it to rapidly swing out from under an object being supported. The device does not have any means to secure the object being supported by the rigid arms of the generally "V"-shaped support. And although the piston operated cylinder eliminates manual labor requirements for removal of the object being suspended, the power requirements and weight of the removal device are not suitable for use at remote locations Further since no provision is made to secure an object in the hanger, the device is not suitable for transfer of live poultry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,488 issued June 25, 1985, to van den Bogert, discloses a positioning apparatus for guiding slaughtered animals past several butchering stations. The apparatus uses rigid hooks to hold slaughtered animals, and is not suitable for transporting live birds.
For securing objects such as brooms, other types of devices have been utilized. U.S. Pat. No. 1,563,817 issued Dec. 1, 1925, to Wright, shows a pair of cam-like devices pivotedly mounted in a spaced relationship so that a broom or like object can be inserted between the cams so that the cams engage the broom. The weight of the cams themselves tend to force the cams to an operative position acting upon an object placed in the device. Through friction between the cam and the object, the downward gravity force acting on an object urges the cams toward an object, thus securing it tightly.
In suspension and securing apparatus of the type under consideration, it is undesirable to require manual manipulation of the apparatus to insert an object therein, to require an additional manual operation to remove an object therefrom, or to require manipulation of the apparatus to restore it to an open position. Also, it is undesirable to require an operator to impart an outwardly acting force on an object being secured in a danger or holder device, as such force may result in either the object or the operator being accelerated outwardly When the securing action of the holder is quickly released Such outward acceleration may be unsafe for the operator and to surrounding property. In particular, there exists the need for an improved hanger device which automatically grasps an object when an object is placed therein, and which automatically restores itself to the open position when an object is removed therefrom. Additionally, it would be desirable to remove an object and to automatically restore the apparatus to an open and ready position with only slightly more force than is necessary to overcome the gravity force acting on an object being suspended.